Up in Flames
''Up in Flames ''is the upcoming third studio album by Canadian recording artist Josh Kingston, scheduled for release on 28 June 2013 by Banana Music. Recording sessions for the album began in January 2013, and are scheduled to end in June 2013. The album is a follow-up to his 2012 album In January. According to Kingston, the album will see a return of his standard alternative rock and pop rock genres, however will see a larger R&B and disco influence than his previous efforts. The album's lead single "Charlie Brown" was released on 3 March 2013, followed by its second single "Madness", released on 19 April 2013 and its third single "Get Lucky", released on 6 June 2013. Development history '2012: Development and titling' In March 2012, Kingston announced his intentions to record a third album. Initially, Kingston had planned to have his third album consist entirely of original music, and he was hoping to spend the majority of the remainder of the year writing for the album. However, Banana Music advised him that the process of recording an original album would be strenuous and time consuming, so Kingston subsequently decided to have his third album consist of mainly covers. Despite this, he continued writing original songs, which he planned to incorporate onto his third album or onto other future releases. Following the release of In January: Four Seasons in June 2012, Kingston had an online conference with Banana Music founder, Nick Roads, where they discussed Kingston's third album. During this conference, Kingston expressed interest to begin recording his third album in September 2012 for a potential April 2013 release, similar to what was done with his second album (which began recording in September 2011 and was released in April 2012). However, after looking through files on his computer, Kingston recovered audio from recording sessions from his second album, and decided to release a second re-release, In January: The Complete Collection, which was released in November. Due to the promotion of The Complete Collection, Kingston postponed the start of recording for his third album. In December 2012, while putting together the theme of the album, Kingston was looking for inspiration and came across pictures of the city of Amsterdam, as well as Joseph Mallord William Turner's The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons paintings, which depict the 1834 burning of the Palace of Westminster. Following this, Kingston decided to give a "firey European" persona to the album. After discovering the song "Up in Flames" by Coldplay, Kingston decided to cover the song and name the album after it. He also chose to record the song "Lost" by Frank Ocean, which includes a reference to Amsterdam, and the song "Amsterdam" by Coldplay. '2013–present: Recording and release' Kingston began recording his third album on 1 January 2013. Later that month, he had another online conference with Roads, where they discussed the title, release date, and release strategy for his new album. Banana Music wished to release the album during the last week of April, however Kingston estimated that the album would not be completed until May. Kingston stated he would have enough finished songs to chose a single by the end of February. He continued recording the album, and initially chose to release "State of Grace" as the lead single. However, he changed his mind regarding the single several times, chosing songs such as "Madness", "End of Time", and "Clocks". At the end of February, he submitted "Clocks" to Banana Music to release as the lead single, however changed the single to "Charlie Brown" at the last minute. On 3 March 2013, he announced a June 2013 release for the album, which was later specified as 23 June during an 8 April announcement. He stated the album would be "funner and generally happier" than his first two albums. Kingston continued recording the album throughout the majority of March and April. On 21 April, he announced that the album was finished, however that he would record the final song in May. However, on 6 May, he stated that he was still recording new songs for the album. On 1 June, he announced the album's release had been pushed back to 28 June. On 20 June, he confirmed that the album's final day of recording would be 25 June - a day before the album's pre-order release. Promotion Singles *"Charlie Brown" premiered as the album's lead single on 3 March 2013 via a highly anticipated and publicized USTREAM. The song was released for digital download and online streaming on the same day. It impacted Banana Radio on 4 March. *"Madness" premiered as the album's second single on Banana Recordz Countdown ''on 15 April 2013. The song had been planned for digital download and online streaming release on 16 April, however was delayed to 19 April in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. Prior to official release, Kingston leaked the song on his Chirbit account on 12 April. *"Get Lucky" was released as the album's third single on 6 June 2013. Upon initial release, the song became available for digital download via SendSpace and online streaming via Chirbit. It was released for online streaming via YouTube on 11 June. It was sent to Banana Radio on 18 June. 'Promotional singles' *"I Need Your Love" was released as the album's first promotional single on 2 April 2013, after premiering on ''Banana Recordz Countdown the previous day. The song was released primarily to promote Kingston's appearance as a guest host on the 8 April episode of Countdown. The song will not be featured on the standard version of the album. *"Treasure" will be released as the album's second promotional single on 25 June 2013. It will be sent to Banana Radio on 16 July. Confirmed tracks The official track listing for the album was released on 21 June 2013. Release history